pinhole.dumpster
coming soon: dumpster art.
This is a bit of a journey through the Adelaide (and occasionally
Melbourne) dumpsters.
Source of nutrition, entertainment and furtive digging.
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This is my blog for the first 3 months of records.
The current list is here.
The Total Dumpster Value is cumulative across lists.
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11.06.04
So i hit two dumpsters last night. I went past the markets but there was
nothing there.
The Mall was pretty scant. Most of the good ones were
locked, and all i got was a container of black bean and chilli simmer
sauce. There was another dude on a bike there before me, not sure if he
was dumpstering or and employee. Either way I waited for him to leave
but still was not very successful.
After that I went and hit the Avenues.
Too easy
Nice and fresh pickings
kindly located near the top
filled the back of my bike
quickly took:
4 x packets of vine ripened cherry tomatoes
25 x bananas (50:50 eco:conventional)
2 x heads of garlic
1x bag of seedless white grapes.
left:
another 15 bags of grapes
shitty bread
tomatoes
spinach/greens etc
Est. dumpster value = $25
made:
a wicked tomato, tempeh and greens in black bean sauce for
lunch/dinner.
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13.06.04
Ah the Sunday morning dumpster... Went to the river and practiced
taichi. Also took a pinhole, ill post it when its
developed. woolies on the Mall seems to have gotten into an
annoying habit of locking their dumpster! what! Maybe I just need
to go earlier, when they're still working it.
anyway, the local gave me:
3 x Helgas Swisss seed loaves (smell pretty good)
1 x caramel cake. why did I take this? its just sugar. I put it in the
compost
5 x red capsicums
1 x bunch of beetroot
1 x mandarin
1 x sweet potato
left:
heaps more vegies, bread and cake
the meat bag (ick)
rubbish (who would have thought!)
made:
two elderly walkers reassess the world as they watched me emerge from
the dumpster cubicle, milk crate full of food in hand. Said hello
to them but they were a bit freaked i think. Almost offered them
some bread...
Also made room in the fridge by composting the last bunch of beetroot I
dumpstered.
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13.06.04
HA! Will went to the local last night! So i was just picking
through what he left...
He got a milk crate full of:
14 red capsicums
3 green capsicums
6 continental cucumbers
4 lebanese cucumbers
carrots
3 avocados
pears
8 x zuccini
strawberries
2 tomatoes
beetroot
hes planning on making an oily capsicum dish. yum!
hes also making some weird will-style light out of aquadhere soaked
wafers.
left: the stuff i took!
todays estimated dumpster value: $40
total:$65
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13.06.04
three dumpster day! Will has been to another dumpster on the way
home from Mountain biking with Bert.
Quite a good haul of :
5lt orange juice
2 massive broccoli heads
3 packs of dried prunes (yum!)
6 various flat breads
1 yoghurt with apricot
3 botles of tonic water
2 packs of ice cream wafers.
will is making some weird light out of aquadhere soaked wafers. Ill
post a pinni if he ever finishes it. [ed: its a bee, check it under
dumpsterart]
estimated dumpster value:$40
total: $105
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15.06.04
IGA: bananas
left: bananas
made: my tummy sore by eating a clove of raw garlic? why did i do this?
I just got bananas for fucks sake
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18.06.04
will scored:
1 bag tasty organic carrots
some other crap
Yesterday I scored:
3 bananas.
hardly worth an entry really.
Estimated dumpster value: $6
total:$111
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30.06.04
I have today returned from a two week camping trip to the Flinders
ranges and Gammon ranges. Will and I just scored a lovely haul of fresh
goodies from the very top of the local.
We were spotted by a security guard who didnt seem to give a shit.
sweet.
got:
4 asparagus
1 avo
1 pack cayenne peppers
1 pear
1 mango
8 jars of anchovies (good resealable lids)
4 spring onion
3 massive eggplant
1 bag carrot
1/2 organic butternut
10 cherries
2 packs snow pea
6 corn
2 time out bars
1 thermal mug
1 baby wombok
1 pack of brussel sprouts
1 apple roll
1 cucumber
1 bag brown onions
1 small bag of scroggin
Left: 2 meat bag(as always); general fruit and veg; 2 xlarge garbage
bags of bread; other supermarket food which we despise.
estimated value: $150
total dumpster value:$261
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07.07.04
Im in Melbourne at the moment, so Rachel and I went and hit a good
dumpster somewhere over near brunswick street. We went a couple of days
ago and scored a pitful haul, and tonight were immediately sprung by
security at the first dumpster we went to. The second was initially
delayed by a group of youths loitering near their cars. Possibly
supermarket workers on their way home. Either way, we had to wait, but
it was worth it in the end...
got:
2 vitasoy lush berry drinks
1 4pack of vaalia low fat yoghurt
3 tamar valley 1ltr mango yoghurt
1 tamar valley 1ltr boysenberry yoghurt
1 kg of spinach
1 pack snow pea sprouts
1 pack cherry tomatoes
1 pack of donuts (for art I believed, but they were consumed with
alarming alacrity)
1 pack 'soup mix' vegies
1 pack of snow peas
1 pack broccoli
2 half pineapples
2 bananas
1 half red cabbage
3 oranges
8 kg potatoes (2 kg possibly green)
Left: a pack of snags on the ground, heaps more greenish potatoes,
yoghurt, general fruit and veg.
estimated value:$50
total dumpster value:$311
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19.07.04
Will and I had a quite successful little jaunt down to the dumpster
this evening, with fantastic results all within the top part of the
dumpster. Will was exceptionally happy to have another excuse to ride
the recumbant:
17 250g packs of dried fruit and nuts.
these are shrink wrapped packs with 4 varieties of fruit and nuts in
each - we have pine nuts, almond bits, peanuts, walnut bits, pepitos,
sunflower seeds, banana chips and bhuja!
5 assorted flat breads
3 ltr orange juice
1.25 ltr cranberry and apple drink
1kg 'plastic' tomatoes
1 yellow honeydew (?)
1 bag of grapefruit
1 avo
2 pears
1 onion
estimated value: $100
total dumpster value: $411
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22.07.04
On the way home from wing chun i swung past the mall, whereupon i
discovered, laying amidst the trash in the fourth dumpster I checked:
2 kg 'eco' bananas
2 kg conventional bananas
1 red onion
5 kg coliban potatoes
1 iceberg lettuce
estiamated value: $25
total dumpster value: $436
made: dried bananas of course
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01.08.04
So its been a while since i've had a proper dumpster dive. A few days
ago I hauled a bag of potatoes from the Mall but thats about it really.
Last night I went to an excellent party up in Eden hills. brown and
Gold was the theme and everyone was pretty much into it with some crazy
slinky gold fabric making its way around the dancefloor. About an hour
of wicked drumming as well as DJs kept the house warm. Also I met my
friend Julie who lives in Tasmania. Id seen her in the markets during
the daytime and briefly chatted then left and almost stright away
thought I should have offered my house for her and her (?) boyfriend to
stay at but couldnt find her in the throng - then I arrived at the part
and she was there! I guess thats Adelaide for you eh. Anyway, Its a
long ride home from Eden Hills and the dumpster added an extra 20 mins,
so I reckon it was easily over an hour before I finally got home (5 am!
I reckon thats the latest Ive been out without hard drugs in a hell of
a long time.) Fortunately the route led me past a long speculated but
never visited dumpster - I am of course talking about the Unley
shopping centre. Coles, Woolies, BiLo and a host of variety shops. So
what did i get...
From woolies, with a very conveniently located dumpster:
1 green woolies eco bag thingy - very convenient for packing!
1 spicy fruit loaf
2.2kg basmati rice. I still have 5kg of jasmine rice left over from a
dive 6 months ago. Why cant they ever throw out brown rice?
100 Australian grown English Breakfast tea bags
100 Traditional Afternoon tea bags (I may take a selection of these to
uni tommorrow)
and the pearl of the dive:
225g of pure macadamia paste, unopened, in a separate plastic bag and
with 6 months left on use by date! It never ceases to excite me the
wicked things I get out of the trash
I then went to look for Coles' bin - I think its locked up behind a
roller door, but from another bin I got:
1 nice grainy loaf of bakers delight bread.
I then went to find the BiLo bin but I think I stumbled upon a chemist
dumpster, because there was heaps of toiletries and even a few
medications eg panadol and cough mixture (which I left.) Instead I took:
9 various black socks!
1 shoe polisher (Its just a sponge in a little twist top container.
Rachel now has it full of paw-paw ointment.)
left: heaps of crap bread, approx. 40ltr of soft drink, loads of
magazines, 'messenger' papers, and photocopied real estate flyers
(which I thought of returning to the agency with a 'recycle me' tag but
didnt), loads of other stuff I cant remember.
Estimated value: $36
total dumpster value: $472
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07.08.04
I actually made this haul almost a week ago, with my lovely Rachel, so my memory is a little hazy as to what exactly we got, but heres a bit of a guess. We actually were planning on going out to dinner, then we thought we'd just go and BUY some food from the supermarket (what the hell were we thinking?) In the end the supermarket was closed (thank god) and we inevitably made out way from the mouth, around to the arse:
fair bit of broccoli (? organic)
2 packets of brussel sprouts
1/4 organic pumpkin
7 organic sweet potatoes
i'm fairly sure there was more, but it eludes me now...
Estimated value: $20
Total Dumpster value: $492
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12.08.04
It is a beautiful warm night for some reason. Its supposed to rain tommorrow but right now its warm but _windy._ Perfect night for a bit of a cruise on the old silver bike. And as it so happens, i find my way to the dumpster for a bit of a look. There was a bit of a bogan presence down there tonight, which always makes me slightly uneasy, but I made a fairly good job of it, despite having to wait 10 minutes for car park lurkers to de-lurk and spin their wheels away into the night. It doesnt sound like much but it was bursting out of my little basket, oh, and most of it was pre-dumpster as well...:
1 pack of croissants
1 bunch of carrots
2 heads of organic broccoli (looking perfect)
1 good leafed cauliflower (from a box of the same)
4 bunches of fresh white onions
1 capsicum
4 bits of corn (in a packet)
3 zuccini
1 'healthy' rye fruit cake
Left: more fresh vegies than you can poke a bin at, including heaps of celery (not really my scene without a juicer handy) and cauliflower (I love it, but the sheer bulk of it meant I could only take 1) A bag of bread and cakes. Yet more fresh fruit and veg. Did I mention the fresh fruit and veg? I would have come home with a milk crate but itll all be there again soon, and theres only two of us at Nora st at the moment.
Estimated value: $30 One of these days Ill take a list inside and see how accurate I was.
Total Dumpster value: $522
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19.08.04
Ive done a bit of diving in the last couple of days - and I have an exiting new source of dumpster entertainment - the Bicycle Dumpster. Well, actually, its a row of sulo bins, but the function is the same. And when I looked on Tuesday, it was also very rewarding. I took:
A speedometer display unit with two perfectly functioning bicycle speedos attached. Cheapie and goodie. On dismatling, Im only going to easily get one in operation but I do have parts to get both going eventaully with some hacking.
Reflective tape! Yay, one of my other favourite things.
Assorted clips and attachment devices.
A 700C inner tube.
Definitely will be going back there! Yesterday I went out for a cruise on my new fixed gear roar bike (pinni's soon I promise!) and merely by chance obtained from the local:
3 packets of 'cappucinno' and 'rum' balls. ie sugar
1 gluten free ("Flavour-lite!") loaf.
Estimated value: $140
Total dumpster value: $662
I should also mention that the bike Im riding at the moment was largely hard rubbished - currently I am only $8 out of pocket for a sub-10 k9 campagnolo fixed gear road bike! That could add about $1000 to the dumpster value but I feel its not quite kosher. Anyway very happy about riding it, but feeling giulty about not riding my silver. Why should I feel guilt towards a bike??
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04.09.04
It has been a while since my last dumpster post. I have made a few small hauls of the odd loaf of bread, but nothing which really seemed worth making an entry for. Also Ive been up at Pimpinio so there was no dumpster action there for a week. anyway, it seems that I ave very little money till tuesday, so the dumpster is providing some goodness. Unfortunately Coles have got a new dumptster which they seem to lock a bit more than usual - excpet that last night there was no need to go inside: There was a treasure trove of pre-dumpster waiting for me in the loading bay...
9 jars of tomato sauce (pasta style, not for chips)
3kg organic pumpkins
1kg jar of goulbourn valley peach pieces
1 bunch of spinach
5 bunches of bok-choi
1 bunch of choy-sum
1 kg 'quickoats' (the same type ollie normally buys...
also a couple of days ago I got (also pre-dumpster:)
2 turkish bake at home
1 plain rye loaf
Estimated value: $30
Total dumpster value: $692
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06.09.04-07.09.04
Minor raids:
3kg string beans. ?soup? - !soup!
3 packets of crumpets. predumpster
2 ladyfinger, 4 eco and one conventional banana
Estimated cost:$16
total dumpste rvalue: $708
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10.09.04
Major fresh food haul this rainy friday eve. I just saw Raising Arizona at the mercury. Funny, but Irealised half way through that Ive seen bits of it before. Too many people hanging around Rundle mall to get anthing there, but there was plenty to be had from the local. I almost left near empty-handed after employee noises behind the roller door, but couldnt bear it, so returned and filled a box as full as I could. Poor bicycle choice (fixie) and no backpack reduced my carrying capacity, but I still came away with a good amount of healthy fresh stuff. Oh yeah, Coles' nice new dumpster has remained mercifully open and is an absolute joy to lean against compared to their filthy old one. For some reason they only bother to lock the employee entrance to the cubicle. The diver's entrance is as easy to access as ever.... anyway;
1 large eggplant
1kg organic pumpkin
1 whole cauliflower
1 bunch beetroot
1 large and 1 small bag of fresh basil
3 packs of sugar snap peas
1 banana
1 pear
1 small broccoli
1 box brussel sprouts
1 kg tomatos
1 big bag of lemons
2 pc corn
1 french stick
2 packs of 'cafe latte' biscuits. Weakness... In fairness they do taste like coffee - that is, they taste like crap instant coffee from a hospital cafeteria. Laced with milk and sugar to disguise the lack of substance. I felt bad for the trees and microbes, but put them in the compost anyway. Once again I wonder why I bother taking stuff I wouldn't buy...
estimated value:$37
total dumpster value: $745
I hope I make it to $1000 before I go to Hobart!
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